


The Real Bradley and Colin

by TheOfficialMendelWeisenbachfeld



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Based on "The Real Merlin and Arthur", First Kiss, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, RPF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28498155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOfficialMendelWeisenbachfeld/pseuds/TheOfficialMendelWeisenbachfeld
Summary: While Bradley and Colin are on the way to Mold for their show, "The Real Merlin and Arthur," they end up taking the scenic route and arriving late. Except...perhaps they didn't actually get lost like they claimed to.
Relationships: Bradley James/Colin Morgan
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	The Real Bradley and Colin

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first RPF work and it's a little rough, but I couldn't resist writing about Bradley and Colin's road trip across Wales! Obviously they're not together in real life, but everything about this 30 minute special screams "secret lovers" to me, and I couldn't resist filling in the parts we don't see for this fic. I'm planning to add a couple more chapters to show how their relationship develops throughout this brief road trip, so stay tuned! Hope you like it :)

It’s November 2009. Bradley James and Colin Morgan have decided that, after 8 months of filming Merlin together, it’s the perfect time to go on a road trip around Wales. So, after not much planning (one could even argue that they might have benefitted from a little more planning), Bradley and Colin were off on a jaunt around Wales to learn about the characters they portrayed on TV.

The first morning of filming, they woke up in the same hotel, but on very different schedules. Colin was up early, having breakfast while doing some research on the places they were visiting. He had stacks of books piled up around him and a large map obscuring his view of his corn flakes. Before they left, he filmed a segment with the cameraman about how excited he was to learn more about the legend of King Arthur.

As Colin was having a productive morning, Bradley rolled out of bed and barely got a shower before they had to be on the road. He found a few minutes to film a segment with the cameraman, and then he was packing up to get in the car.

The first stop on the journey was a town called Mold, where they could find a library full of books about the Arthurian legends. The library closed at 5pm, and Bradley and Colin were a bit concerned about their ability to arrive on time. With a somewhat confusing map in front of them and a definitive, early deadline, it seemed unlikely that they would be meeting Scott Lloyd, Arthurian legend expert, at the library too long before closing.

About an hour into the drive, Bradley and Colin got to talking about their love lives. Or, rather, Bradley berated Colin about his lack of a love life.

“So tell me, Colin, who was the last girl you snogged?” Bradley asked, looking in the direction of the passenger seat with a teasing smile on his face.

“Does Angel count?” Colin asked, not wanting to admit to his friend how lonely he’d been in recent years.

“She absolutely does not count,” Bradley replied, “so who was it before her?”

“Erm… well gosh, it must have been a girl I met in my first year of uni.”

“You haven’t kissed anyone since you were nineteen!?” Bradley asked, incredulous.

“Okay, two things,” Colin replied, “One: you said snogged, not kissed. I’ve kissed plenty of people in the past four years, thank you very much. And two: you only asked about girls.” Bradley was quiet for a minute, not quite sure how to respond to that.

“Does that mean…” he paused, “Colin, have you been attracted to men this whole time and I didn’t know?” he put his hand on his chest so as to act offended, though they both knew he was mostly joking.

“I suppose I have, although I can’t see why it would matter.”

“I’m just shocked you haven’t fallen in love with me yet,” Bradley grinned, looking over at his friend in the seat beside him.

“Who says I haven’t?” Colin replied, playing along with the joke. Bradley smiled, turning back to the road in front of him.

“I can understand your attraction, it’s alright. I am a handsome fellow,” he continued. Colin giggled in response.

“Yes, Bradley, there’s nothing more alluring to me than your chiseled jawline and your impossibly broad shoulders,” he said. It took a second for Colin to realize that neither of those things were insults. Bradley chuckled, still playing along.

“And I’m positively dazzled by your deep blue eyes and your adorable Irish accent.”

“Thanks,” Colin said in response. Once again, Bradley paused, confused about where this joke was going. He wasn’t even entirely sure that it still was a joke.

Colin spoke again, this time with curiosity in his voice. “Bradley, have you ever been attracted to a man?”

“Why do you ask?” he responded, starting to get nervous.

“Oh, no reason,” Colin said, seemingly content to end the conversation there. After a few moments of tense silence, Bradley continued.

“Maybe I have. Why do you want to know?” Colin grinned at him.

“Oh, so you have? Interesting.”

“What? What’s interesting about that?” Bradley asked.

“Nothing, I just… you seem like the type of guy who’d be strictly into girls.”

“And what type of guy is that?”

“Just… wanting to seem big and strong, always trying to impress someone… a bit arrogant.”

“I can assure you, I am not that type of guy,” Bradley said.

“Oh yeah?” Colin asked, “prove it.” Bradley’s chest was heaving now, his eyes determinedly pointed forward. All of a sudden, he pulled the car off into the shoulder and they came to a screeching halt. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself for whatever he was about to do. Colin watched with curious eyes as Bradley turned to face him, grabbing him by the shoulders so they were facing one another.

“I’ll prove it,” he said. Not a moment later, Bradley was pressing his lips against Colin’s. It wasn’t a good kiss in the slightest. In fact, Colin thought it might have been one of the worst he’d ever had. Both of their lips were dry and chapped. Bradley’s mouth was squeezed into a tight, unyielding pucker, while Colin’s was still slightly agape. The only redeeming quality of the kiss was the entertainment factor; Bradley had decided, with no prompting whatsoever, to plant one on Colin’s lips just to prove a point. When he finally pulled away after far too long, Colin was staring at him, even more confused than he was before.

“What in the name of God was that?” he asked.

“I wanted to show you that I’m not the arrogant prat you think I am,” Bradley responded, as though the answer was obvious.

“Perhaps if you wanted to show me that, you might have tried kissing me in a way that was actually enjoyable. That felt like running face-first into my grandma on Easter.” Bradley scoffed, offended at the comparison.

“Alright then, I’ll give it another go.” He lifted his right hand to cradle Colin’s cheek. His thumb gently brushed over the other man’s lower lip as his eyes were trained on his mouth. This time, he leaned in more slowly, his lips parted and his other hand winding around Colin’s waist.

When Bradley’s lips finally met his, Colin’s breath hitched. For a moment, he just let it happen, absorbing the taste of his friend’s tongue and the smell of his breath. As he sank further into the kiss, he wrapped his arms around Bradley’s neck, curling one of his hands into the hair on the back of his head.

The pair spent a few glorious minutes wrapped in each others’ arms, kissing like their lives depended on it. After a bit, Bradley pulled away.

“What do you think? Have I proven my point?” Colin grinned, looking at Bradley’s messy hair and swollen lips.

“Absolutely,” he said breathlessly.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say we won’t be on time to arrive at the library.”

“Oh, shit,” Colin said, having forgotten completely about their trip for the last few minutes. “Maybe we should film a segment for the show? Tell them we got lost or something?”

“That’s a fantastic idea, get the camera out,” Bradley responded. While Colin was digging around in the trunk for the equipment, he perched himself on the hood of the car and ran a hand through his hair, trying to make himself look presentable.

“What do you think?” he asked, “do I look like I’ve been snogging my costar instead of driving?”

“Definitely not,” Colin grinned, turning on the camera and gesturing for Bradley to start talking.

“This is actually turning out to be quite a lengthy drive, uh, certainly a lot longer than we anticipated,” Bradley said to the camera Colin was pointing in his face. “And, um, we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere on our way north, umm… I don’t know how far or close we are to, uh, where we’re going, but, um, hopefully we’ll get there soon.”

“Wow, very believable,” Colin said from behind the camera, “I’m sure nobody will question that we’re actually lost.”

“Hey, just because we’re not lost yet doesn’t mean we won’t be soon,” Bradley replied, defensive. “We both have a terrible sense of direction, so who’s to say whether we’re even on the right road no?”

“Alright, I suppose you do have a point,” Colin replied. “Why don’t you film me saying something too so we can make our story look believable?” Bradley agreed, taking the camera from Colin and waiting for him to climb into the car.

“It is takin’ a bit longer,” Colin said, “but we- I’ve decided to take more of a scenic route, so we’re actually gettin’ to see some parts that we… you know, have never seen before, which is great.”

“No wonder they hired you for the show, you’re a brilliant actor,” Bradley said, amazed at how Colin was able to film his segment without appearing at all nervous about the dishonesty of their cover story. Colin smiled.

“I sure hope I’m a good actor, I mean, it is my job. And anyway, why’d they hire you if you’re such a bad actor?” Bradley smirked.

“Because I’m gorgeous and good with a sword. Obviously.” Colin chuckled.

“Obviously. Now get in the car, you twat, we actually have somewhere to be.” Bradley sighed and climbed back into the driver’s seat after putting the camera safely back in the trunk.

“Do you want me to continue driving? Or… should we pick up where we left off?”

“You idiot, clearly I want you to keep driving, that’s why I told you to get in the car. Do you even want to make it to Mold?”

“Not particularly,” Bradley responded. Colin punched him on the arm.

“They’re airing this on national television, Bradley, we can’t just blow this guy off.”

“You can blow me off.”

“Bradley! Jesus Christ, just drive!” Colin shouted, trying desperately to hide the blush spreading across his face. For nearly two hours, the pair drove in complete silence, without even the radio to entertain them. They were both lost in thought over the events that had taken place earlier in the day, neither of them quite sure what it meant for their relationship. Finally, Colin broke the silence.

“So… what exactly were you trying to prove to me earlier, Bradley?” he asked. “Because if you were trying to show me you’re not an arrogant prat, I’m not really sure kissing me accomplished that, but if you were trying to tell me you’re into guys… well.” Even though dusk was quickly approaching, Colin could see the heat in Bradley’s cheeks.

“I… I don’t exactly know,” he responded. “I am… into guys… but I suppose I could have just told you that.”

“That would’ve done the trick, yeah,” Colin said.

“I guess… well, I… God, Colin, don’t make me say it,” Bradley said, flustered.

“Say what?” Colin asked innocently.

“I wanted to tell you how I feel about you, but I knew I couldn’t make myself say the words, so…” he trailed off.

“So it was easier to kiss me?”

“Somehow it was, yeah. You made it seem like a challenge, like I had to prove to you that I wasn’t one of those stupid macho guys, which I guess gave me something to fall back on if it backfired.”

“Well I wish you’d kissed me nicely the first time, because I don’t want to have to tell our kids that our first kiss was absolutely dreadful.” Bradley’s eyes grew wide, and he stopped the car in the shoulder for the second time that day.

“What did you just say?”

“It was mostly a joke.”

“Did you just say ‘our kids’?”

“I did, but obviously I can’t know for sure if we’re going to have kids.”

“‘We’?”

“Yes, you idiot. ‘We.’” Bradley’s heart swelled as he covered his mouth with his hands.

“Are you saying…” Colin rolled his eyes.

“Christ, for being such a great actor, you really don’t have a way with words.” At that, Bradley felt Colin’s hands on either side of his face, pulling them together until their lips were touching once again. He melted into the kiss, feeling a sense of relief and comfort he hadn’t felt the last time they did this.

This time, Colin was the first one to pull away.

“I hate to kill the mood, but I really do want to see that library.” Bradley smiled at his… boyfriend? Lover? Future husband? He wasn’t sure yet, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, so he pulled away from Colin and put his hands back on the steering wheel.

“I’ll do my best to get us there, but no promises.”

Despite wanting to see the library full of Arthurian legends, Colin made Bradley pull over a few more times just so he could kiss him without causing a car accident. Needless to say, they did not make it to Mold before 5pm, although they never actually did get lost.


End file.
